Plan Puebla-Panama: Part I
Bulletin "Chiapas al Dia" No. 233
Ciepac, Chiapas, Mexico
March 7, 2001
The EZLN's march to Mexico City to have the Congress of the Union recognize the Law of the Comission of Concord and Peace (COCOPA), an act that would constitutionally change the accords signed in 1996 between the federal government and the EZLN on indigenous rights and culture; the Zapatista's declaration that Plan Puebla-Panama (PPP) will not pass through indigenous lands; the behaviour of the Multilateral Bank and its investments such as the World Bank (WB) and the Interamerican Development Bank (IDB), not only in Chiapas, but in Latin America as it works to create infrastructure for business; all of these are intimately bound.
Similarly related are the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA); the trade agreements between Mexico and the rest of the world (especially Central America in this context); the bloody repression suffered by the protestors at the hands of the police at the World Economic Forum (which aims to accelerate the policies of the neoliberal model) in Cancun, Quintana Roo, and; the production of transgenetic products in Chiapas which entails more hunger and dependence on behalf of Alfonso Romo's Mexican transnational company, Pulsar (Alfonso Romo is the force behind the PPP and was named, along with three of Mexico's other wealthiest businessmen, as an advisor to Mexican Petroleum (PEMEX) by President Fox).
Other elements closely bound to the former: the project that the president is trying to develop in the southeast which would see the installation of maquiladoras there -- a project that would take strategic resources away from indigenous peoples; the Isthmus of Tehuantepec Mega-Project; the paramilitarization of Chiapas and the displacement of indigenous populations away from strategic resources; the Mexican Army's Chiapas 2000 Plan; the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor (MBC) that extends from Chiapas to Panama; the bioprospection (biopirancy) projects propelled by transnational companies in regions of high biodiversity such as in Chiapas; the militarization of Latin America by the U.S. government under the pretext of fighting its war against drugs with its "Colombia Plan"; Vicente Fox's, South-Southeast Plan and the Southern Border Plan; the business calls for privatization of water, gas production and distribution, natural resources and the generation and distribution of electrical energy.
From any one of these elements we could piece together the others. We will look at the situation from the perspective of the PPP.
The Outline of the PPP
Although he has announced that, on March 12, 2001, he will give a detailed draft document from the federal government on the PPP, President Vicente Fox pitched his "vision" at a talk in Guatemala on September 11, 2000: "One of my principal committments for the next six years is to propell in our country, regional development to equalize and close the breach between the south and the north, but we also want this flow of development to extend into Central America because this is the only way that we are going to have results and the only way that we will be able to take advantage of the enormous potential of the accords and trade agreements that have already been signed by Mexico and the countries of Central America. We want a border between neighbours that is much more open, intense and development-focused and we want to integrate ourselves into a common market."
In this official document, Regional Development is defined as, "a process of progressive change in the quality of life for human beings" under six directives: 1) Economic growth with social equity; 2) Transformation of the methods of production and consumption patterns; 3) Upholding ecological balances and vital regional support; 4) Respect for ethnic and cultural diversity at local, national and regional levels; 5) Strengthening of citizen participation in harmony with nature; 6) Guaranteeing the quality of life for future generations. The "attributes" of the PPP are defined in the following form: 1) Presidential Plan; 2) Intersecretarial (transversly supporting the actions of the Secretaries, state branches and Executive offices); 3) Intergovernmental (coordinate actions between the orders of government -- municipal, state and federal); 4) Intersectorial (promote action between economic sectors), and; 5) International (support the forces of cooperation between Mexico and Central America).
This document also defines the "Spaces for Immediate Application": 1) the South-Southeast Plan with high impact projects (Economic Development); 2) the Southern Border Program to safeguard national security (Social Development); 3) Central America with accords for the integration and development of Mesoamerica in conformity with the mechanisms of regional cooperation (Human Development).
The so-called, "Grand Strategy" has two central ideas:
- Central Idea 1: Plan Puebla-Panama with the following four elements:
- South-Southeast Program: Promote policies and projects to formulate private investment and to raise the standard of living of the people.
- Progress to the South: To promote the installation of small and medium industries thus generating employment in this zone (Economy Secretariate).
- Southern Border Program: Actions and projects to strengthen national security.
- Central American Integration: Establish a new relation with Central America as partners of complete trust.
- Central Idea 2: Regional Plan with the following four elements:
- Central American Integration System (CAIS)
- Mexican Commission for Cooperation with Central America (regional cooperation agreements)
- Tuxtla Accord: Supports relations between Mexico and Central American countries especially regarding problems.
- Mexico-Central America Free Trade Agreements: Facilitate the exchange of goods and services with the reduction of tariff barriers and the construction of the FTAA by the year 2005 at the latest.
Finally, in the PPP's, "Identification of Investment Projects", five subjects of common interaction are defined: (a) Governors and Municipal Presidents, (b) Central America, (c) Educational Institutions and Civil Society, (d) the Economic Cabinet and, (e) International Bodies, the Development and Investor's Bank.
The PPP Official
President Vicente Fox has named Florencio Salazar Adame as the PPP official. Florencio Salazar Adame was born in Chilpancingo, Guerrero on April 5, 1948. During his political life he was a member of the Party of Institutional Revolution (PRI); President of the National Conference of local PRI Representatives; Legislative Action Coordinator for the PRI's National Executive Committee (CEN) and; Coordinator for Jose Francisco Ruiz Massieu's campaign to be governor of Guerrero in 1987. Later, during Fox's presidential campaign, Fox named Salazar Adame as the National Support Coordination official. Salazar Adame later joined President Fox's Transition Team as Assistant Coordinator for the Immediate Affairs of the Political Commission.
Florencio Salazar Adame was the Secretary General of Government from April 1999 to March 15th, 2000 in Guerrero - the state with the largest number of known guerilla groups in the country (see www.ciepac.org/mapas/). Guerrero is also the place where the Zapatista caravan will pass and where there are two indigenous ecologists in jail (Rodolfo Montiel and Teodoro Cabrera). These men have received international awards for their defense of natural resources.
Salazar Adame was also a PRI Representative; Coordinator of the LV Local Congressional Legislature in Guerrero; Federal Representative for the Primary District of Guerrero; Municipal President of Chilpancingo, Guerrero; and representative of the Deputy's Chamber before the Federal Elections Institute in a state that has been criticized for various electoral frauds, violations of human rights and growing militarization which have, in these days, compelled hundreds of Guerrero's indigenous peoples to march on foot to Mexico City to protest the plundering of their lands and the militarization of their communities. These same people will join the Zapatista march.
Florencio Salazar Adame was Technical Secretary of the Editorial Advisory for the LV Legislature's publication, "Quorum"; Director of the publication of Parliamentary Studies of the Change XXI Mexican Foundation, Luis Donaldo Colosio; member of the Secretary of Social Development's (SEDESOL), Citizen Consultation Council and of the Mexico City Consultation Council during the PRI governments. He also had the position of Honorary Member of the State Historical Society in Guerrero and President of the Neighbour's Committee of the Venustiano Carranza Delegation in the Federal District.
In 1997, Salazar Adame was elected member of the Parliament of the Americas in San Juan de Puerto Rico. He participated in the Preliminary World Meeting on population in New York and in the Seminar on Democracy in Latin America organized by the Eber Fredrich Foundation in San Jose, Costa Rica.
Florencio Salazar Adame has considered the PPP to be a Plan for National Security. This plan, which has not been formulated by consulting society, will connect Mexico with international markets, it will offer the necessary infrastructure to investors, it will combat drug trafficking and the migration that in provoked more and more by the Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) imposed by the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In these two multilateral bodies, the government of the United States has the greatest amount of investment and decision-making power. Drug trafficking and immigration are two of the most important items on the U.S.'s agenda for the region.
The governmental coordinator of the PPP stated that, "... it is an inclusive plan that, at all times, has the indigenous peoples as it most important consideration. It is a plan that will have to coordinate itself with all levels of government, with the social sector and with ethnic groups. We are not going to do anything against the interests of the communities, we should agree with them with respect to what needs to be done because they should be the principal beneficiaries of the plan" ("Milenio Diario", Feb. 22, 2001).
On September 12, 2000, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Fox declared that, "We want to work on this project, including the governments of southeastern Mexico, the companies and the political parties (...). To this end, I will propose to the presidents of Central America that a summit meeting be carried out where we agree to the creation of a regional economic development zone that includes development plans in matters of: infrastructure, gas pipelines, ports and airports, tourism and development of micro and small businesses, among other things."
PPP in the Context of the Militarization of Latin America
In the meeting between Bush and Fox, in the state of Guanajuato, they tackled the theme of PPP and Bush agreed to support it given common interests and with a view to the integration of the FTAA. The PPP will count on investments for the highway and railway corridors, the generation of private electrical energy and infrastructure for the installation of maquiladoras with the goal being to form productive networks. These maquiladoras could be converted into "maquila cities" where poor and indigenous peoples, apart from natural resources and the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor, come to offer their cheap labour. In this way, farming and livestock production would be oriented towards two trends: the exportation of transgenetic products (profitable for transnational companies such as Pulsar in Chiapas); and small micro-projects, palliative to poverty, that generate and maintain the survival of cheap labour without being competitive before the markets.
PPP will imply the granting of security to businesses with the infrastructure necessary for their investments, security in land ownership, modifications to existing laws and their regulations, as well as military security.
With the world economic recession in 1929, the United States was the beneficiary of the second World War, lifting itself out of its economic crisis by selling military arms to both allies and enemies. Now, given the economic crisis in the United States, the military industry is cashing in its bill with the new president, George Bush. The military industry supported Bush's presidential campaign and is now pushing for the Colombia Plan with millions of dollars destined towards the supposed fight against drugs and the militarization of Central America - the confines of PPP.
The U.S. Congress gave the Pentagon approval for the financing of 38 military operations for the year 2001. These operations entail the sending of troops to 21 countries in Central America, South America and the Caribbean, with approximately 100 000 soldiers and the supposed goal of assisting national armies in the fight against drug trafficking, control of guerrilla forces and arms and humanitarian assistance. In Central America they will carry out "Operation - New Horizons", "Allied Humanitarian Forces", "Operation - Maintenance of Peace in the North", "Immediate Response Medical Team", "Troop Exchange" and the "Distinguished Visitors Program" in order to train local armies and in this way, reactivate the School of the Americas.
The United States Southern Command (www.southcom.mil, www.usarso.army.mil and www.dtic.mil) will establish this military presence, now that they have affirmed that, "it is essential for our national security", "it is vital for the economy, security and culture of the United States"; for the economic and strategic importance of the Venezualen petroleum, "they provide us with more petroleum than all of the Middle East", and in order to protect some of the "weakest democracies" of the zone now that, "the success of democracy in Latin America is not guaranteed". Some governments are fragile and require our constant support." Nonetheless, this will mean that there are really, no democractic governments in Latin America.
Accordingly, the Southern Command is sending 12 000 soldiers, on a military mission known as "New Horizons", to Guatemala, on the border with Chiapas. A bit later, in the month of February this year, strong rumours circulated in Guatemala of a possible military attack. In this context, the Mexican Army's "Chiapas 2000 Plan" became known to the public as a counterinsurgency strategy for Mexico.
For the United States, the Puebla-Panama region plays an extremely important geopolitical and geoeconomic role given competition with European and Asian markets. The natural resources that will be strategically important in just a few years are centered around biodiversity, the generation of electrical energy, water and petroleum - elements that are on the Mexican government's agenda for privatization. It is in the Puebla-Panama region that the most important biodiversity of the world is concentrated. Hence, the biomilitarization and petromilitarization of these resources in the region - specifically in Chiapas. In the case of the Isthumus of Tehuantepec, the Isthmus Mega-Project intends to make another Panama canal that connects the two oceans, promoting investment in infrastructure, making use of the natural resources offered by the region such as cheap, native labour.
It is in this context that the San Andres Accords are situated - accords that would not only benefit the indigenous Zapatistas but the entire country. The fulfillment of the COCOPA Law would be an obstacle for the free hands of transnational capital that wants to invest in indigenous lands without obstacles. Indigenous nations have been the containers of the depreciation and privatization of resources.
At the bottom of all this and as a common factor, there is the globalization of the neoliberal economic model that continues at the cost of more and more poverty. No economic model in the capitalist system has been eternal. The neoliberal model began in the 70s and it will have an end. The three billion poor of the world that survive on less than two dollars a day (approximately 20 pesos) and the 40 0000 people who die each day due to poverty, according to the World Bank's report, are having an effect. The movements and protests against globalization in Seattle, Prague, Madrid, Porto Alegre, El Salvador, Quito, Washington and Cancun (among many others on all the continents of the world), each time that these governments meet to accelerate the process of globalization, continue with governmental responses that are increasingly more repressive and more bloody.
We need to move to an economic model that is fairer and more inclusive, where the benefits of development reach all of the people of the world. Although there are the world protests of inconformity, the present economic model is increasingly incorporating diverse social, political and economic sectors and resistance, struggles and alternatives are generated with more depth from the rural and indigenous sector.
Note: A series of six articles and various pieces related to neoliberal economic and the PPP can be found at www.ciepac.org. You can consult the complete official document and maps about these aspects at as well as the Central American diagnostic there.
Gustavo Castro Soto
Center for Economic and Political Investigations of Community Action, A.C. CIEPAC is a member of the Movement for Democracy and Life (MDV) of Chiapas, the Mexican Network of Action Against Free Trade (RMALC), Convergence of Movements of the Peoples of the Americas (COMPA ), Network for Peace in Chiapas, Week for Biological and Cultural Diversity and of the International Forum "The People Before Globalization", Alternatives to the PPP.
